WILMINGTON, Del. — The trustees of a living trust on Oct. 12 sued the builder of their home in Delaware state court, claiming that the stucco facade on their home allows for water infiltration (Parikh Living Trust v. Louis Capano & Associates Inc., No. N18C-10-157, Del. Super.).

TAMPA, Fla. — A homebuilder’s installation of stucco on a Florida home was defective because it allowed for water intrusion that caused damage to the interior walls and because it did not conform with the Florida Building Codes Act, a couple says in a lawsuit filed Oct. 9 in state court (Wenford Coleman, et al. v. Centex Homes, No. 2018-CA-009880, Fla. Cir., Hillsborough Co.).

NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana on Oct. 3 denied a couple’s motion to remand their lawsuit seeking damages for Chinese-made drywall that was installed in their home following Hurricane Katrina, finding that they improperly joined their insurer as a defendant (Cedric Richmond, et al. v. National Gypsum Services Co., No. 17-7453, E.D. La., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170814).

ORLANDO, Fla. — The owner of a restaurant says in a Sept. 20 lawsuit filed in Florida state court against a company that constructed a building it purchased that it will incur more than $75,000 in damages to repair defects it discovered while renovating the building (Resilient Restaurants LLC v. Mulligan Constructors Inc., No. 2018-CA-010309, Fla. Cir., Orange Co.).

LAS VEGAS — A federal judge in Nevada on Oct. 1 denied a homeowners association’s emergency motion to amend its complaint to add a claim for declaratory judgment, holding that the request was procedurally defective and that the request to add the claim was not an emergency because discovery is not scheduled to end until December 2019 (Azure Manor/Rancho De Paz Homeowners Association v. D.R. Horton Inc., No. 14-cv-02222-JCM-NJK, D. Nev.).

CHICAGO — An Illinois appeals court panel on Sept. 28 upheld rulings awarding summary judgment to a developer and municipality, finding that a couple who complained that the defendants breached the terms of an annexation agreement lacked standing to bring their claims because they were not subsequent purchasers of the land and were not intended beneficiaries to the agreement (Patricia Doyle, et al. v. Tinley Park, et al., No. 1-17-0357, Ill. App., 1st Dist., 2nd Div., 2018 Ill. App. LEXIS 716).

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota appeals panel on Sept. 24 affirmed a ruling holding that a developer must indemnify a homebuilder in a suit brought by a homeowners association over crumbling pavers used as a road’s surface, finding that the developer agreed to do so pursuant to a declaration between the parties (Bluffs on Sans Pierre Townhomes and Villas Association v. Wooddale Builders Inc., et al., No. A18-0404, Minn. App., 2018 Minn. App. Unpub. LEXIS 839).

SAN ANTONIO — A federal judge in Texas on Aug. 28 granted a joint motion filed by a Pulte Homes of Texas L.P. and NIBCO Inc. to dismiss with prejudice a suit brought by the home builder over ruptures in PEX piping (Pulte Homes of Texas, L.P. v. NIBCO, Inc., No. 17-CV-544, W.D. Texas).

CHICAGO — A homebuilder says in a reply brief filed Sept. 13 that a couple cannot pursue a claim for violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act (ICFA) because they raise arguments that are not based on “artful retelling” of their amended complaint and because the cases they rely on contain “clear-cut factual allegations of oppression, intimidation and deceit” (Paul Smith, et al. v. NVR Inc., No. 17 C 8328, N.D. Ill.).

GALVESTON, Texas — A couple on Aug. 21 sued the builder of a home they purchased in August 2016 in Texas state court, claiming that it failed to disclose that construction defects and the improper installation of the home’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) unit allowed for water intrusion that caused mold growth (Rick Faulkner, et al. v. D.R. Horton-Emerald Ltd., No. 18-CV-1143, Texas Dist., Galveston Co.).

BATON ROUGE, La. — A couple’s expert’s testimony that windows made by Jeld Wen Inc. are defective is reliable, a federal judge in Louisiana ruled Sept. 10, finding that a test that is intended to provide a comprehensive methodology for evaluating water leakage through walls could be used to support his opinion (Ronald Leo, et al. v. Jeld Wen Inc., No. 16-00605-BAJ-EWD, M.D. La., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154002).

LOS ANGELES — A California company on Aug. 8 filed a lawsuit in state court against the developer, builder and subcontractors who performed work on a $22 million, 10,000-square-foot home, complaining that the defendants concealed defects in the installation of the home’s driveway, retaining wall and rain tank system and failed to repair 143 known construction defects (Victrola 89 LLC v. Jaman Properties 8 LLC, et al., No. BC 717254, Calif. Super., Los Angeles Co.).

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A homeowner who claimed that roofing shingles made by Tamko Building Products Inc. cracked and fell apart prematurely on Aug. 31 voluntarily dismissed a class action lawsuit he brought against the company in Illinois federal court, months after a federal judge found that a request for class certification was moot due to a lack of plaintiffs with live claims (Richard Disher, et al. v. Tamko Building Products Inc., et al., No. 14-cv-00740, S.D. Ill.).

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